Oxlow A++ and Rowter A++

alastairgott

Well-known member
Two newer trips have elluded me in recent years (and i mean years!). Like a thorn in the side, a constant reminder when others saying and asking if you've done a trip.


The crusader series (oxlow) was the first, i'd been twice and not suceeded. How? The first, an evening trip starting at 7.30pm with Tom Howard and American David (Duncan) and i was thwarted by the section after the flat out crawls where you have to bridge a bit of a hole (1m) and post yourself in. Late on a friday evening my brain really wasn't in the game. I opted to stay where I was and let the two go ahead (tom having been here before and failed, so had the bit between his teeth). I waited for about 2 hours and they returned and we continued out through new oxlow. Returning to a snow covered surface brrrr...


The second time i was with luke C. And others, we return to my nemisis. I breezed through this and straight through the "TSG squeezes" and onto the Eldon breakthrough. Stood above the way on, I was told we wouldn't be going any further, and so i returned leaving it for another day.




The bad badger extensions of Rowter have also elluded me, on my last trip i got to the ice cream trail and not far in, i thought F this. The report on this is reasonably easy to find, i found it a minute ago by typing in rowter hole survey, for some reason its the first link :s




Fast forward a couple of years, i'd numbed to the idea of pushing for a trip into either of these places, I'd half decided that if I wanted to go it would never happen.
A simple message on the club forum popped up, anyone want to go to crusader on good friday. these tinkers knew their market, and they were gunning me down.
I'd given myself a half arsed plan of going to yorkshire earlier on in the week, but this was rapidly changed as there was something better to do. (I did "do" yorkshire on saturday and sunday, but thats another story).
I breeze back through the squeezes and down into the fabulous crawls to the chossy wonder of the crusader series, up and up we went, not to the top, but we'd seen enough and time was ticking (more choss on a slope up there, so we ran away).




The trip was written up on the club forum, within a couple of days our young impressionable meets secretary had been to ireland and wanted to come back and have a trip. Spending time with a travelling caving gear salesman must have had an effect on him too. He'd suddenly pinged a message out to the club and a team had assembled.
Today (or yesterday when i've written this tripe), i breezed Through the ice cream trail going downhill and was thoroughly impressed with what i found on the other side. I was right annoyed with coming back through though, it just pisses me off, no reason.


If anyone gets a chance to go to sunrise in the bad badger extensions or crusader, they are well worth it, challengers for the "black book" of derbyshire caving. But throughly enjoyable.


Thank you Eldon pothole club and the Buttered Badgers for two bloody excellent weekends!

 
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